Swimming trunks



2 Sheets-Sheet l SWIMMING TRUNKS Dec. 14, 1937.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I ZE/Mentor; mw-zl'bler SWIMMING TRUNKS A. R. KNEIBLERFiled March 19, 193'? Dec. 14, 1937.

Patented Dec. 14, 1937 UNITED ,STATESv PATENT OFFICE CoopersIncorporated, poration of Wisconsin Kenosha, Wis., a cor- AppllcationMarch 19, 1937, Serial No. 131,759

5 Claims. (Cl. 12S-159) This invention relates to swimming or bathingtrunks particularly designed for mens use, although not restrictedthereto.

The main objects of the invention are to pro- 5 vide swimming trunkswhich will be exceptionally comfortable to wear; to provide swimmingtrunks which will provide the wearer with desirable body support tothereby improve the posture of the wearer and to add attractiveness tothe figure; to provide means for eiectively main.- taining the swimmingtrunks in proper position on the wearer; and in general, it is theobject of the invention to provide improved swimming trunks.

Other objects'and advantages will be understood by reference to thefollowing specification and accompanying drawings (2 sheets), whereinswimming trunks embodying a selected form of construction isillustrated.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation;

Fig. 2 is a central section through the garment illustrating the insideof the rear portion of the garment;

25 Fig. 3 is a section showing the inside of the front portion of thegarment;

Figs. 4 and 5 are sections on the lines 4-4 and 5-5 respectively of Fig.1;

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the material blank employed in forming anouter garment member', and f Fig. 7 is an exploded view, illustratingthe various material sections employed in forming an inner garmentmember. l 35 Referring now to the drawings, the swimming trunks hereincontemplated embodies inner and outer garments, respectively designated8 and 9 in their entireties.

The outer garment 8 is preferably made of 40 wool or other similarmaterial which is preferred for swimming garments. The outer garment maybe made in any desired manner, but in this instance it is preferredlthat it be made from a single blank of material such as shown in Fig. 6.The blank of material there illustrated embodies a back part I and afront part II integrally connected by a crotch-forming part I2. Thematerial blank shown in Fig. 6 is folded upon itself so as to align theopposite ends I3 and I4 50 thereof and the adjacent side edges of theoverlapped blank portions are then stitched together, thereby to formouter trunks having leg open-v ings substantially as illustrated inFig. 1. Beltretaining loops such as indicated at` I may be secured tothe outer trunks at desirable places to position a. belt I6 whichnormally is employed for maintaining the garment on the wearer, butkwhich in this garment is employed mainly for the purpose of providing anattractive finished appearance to the garment. Because of the con- 5struction of the inner garment about to be described, the belt I6 is notessential and may be omitted if desired, It is, however, preferred thata belt of color contrasting to the color of the outer trunks be employedlargely as a matter of 10 attractive appearance. Also, if desired one ofthe belt loops I5 may be made in the form of a coin pocket as indicated.

The inner garment 9 comprises a waist portion and a lower portion 2I.The waist portion is 15 preferably made of two sections of relativelyheavy and strong elastic webbing indicated at 2| and 22 in Fig. 7, theportion 2I constituting the front forming portion and the portion 22constituting the rear forming portion. The portions 2| and 22 have theirends united so as to form a body-encircling band which is stretchable toconform to the wearers body; It is preferred that the front portion 2Ibe made 'somewhat wider in its central portion as indicated so as tooverlie the abdominal regionsto thereby provide a desired abdominalsupporting effect. The elastic elements 2I and 22 are preferably made ofknitted material in which rubber or latex strands or threads areincorporated in the knitting process so as to extend lengthwise of thesections whereby the waist-encircling portion is adequately resistant tostretching, so as to provide the said abdominal supporting eiect.

The lower porion 2I of the inner trunks is also preferably formed ofknitted material which is elastic transversely of the direction of itsWales, but relatively inelastic lengthwise of its wales. The said lowerportion comprises a back forming section 23, front side forming sections24 and 25 40 and a two-ply central front forming section 26. The inneredges 21, 21 of the respective front side sections 24 and 25 arestitched as indicated at 28 to the respectively adjacent edge portionsof the two-ply central front section 26. The outer portion 2l and thelow'er`portion 2i cooperate to form complete inner trunks having legopenings.

As indicated in Pigs. 5 and 'L the central front lsection 2l is madesomewhat longer than the corresponding portion of the back section sothat the seam Il uniting the lower ends of said sectiom Iis disposedsomewhat rearwardly of the rcenter portion of the crotch part of thegar- "ment, which is formed by the lower extensions of said centralfront section and back section. By so positioning the seam Il. thecomfort characteristic of the garment is improved.

'111e inner trunks thus formed is placed within the outer trunks and theupper marginal portion of the outer trunks is then turned inwardly anddownwardly over the inside of the upper marginal portion of the waistportion of the inner trunks. 'nie inwardly and downwardly turnedmarginal portion 8l is then secured in place by suitable stitchingindicated at u which extends all the way around the garment and servesto permanently unite the inner and outer garmentsadjacenttheupperedgesofthe waistportions thereof.

The stitching employed at the various seams indicated is preferably ofthe well-.known type which will permit stretching of the material whererequired or desired, so as not to interfere with yielding of the garmentto conform to the wearers body.

Both the inner and outer trunks are preferably made of knitted materialand in the outer gar ment it is desired that the wales of the knittedmaterial extend substantially vertically of the garment. l l

The knitted material employed in making the inner trlmks is preferablyof a lighter weight cotton material and the sections used in forming thelower portion of the inner trunks are preferably so arranged that thewales thereof extend vertically of the garment. By so arranging thesections, it will be observed that the wales of material in the crotchforming portion of the inner trunks extend vertically or from front toback and substantially parallel with the adjacent inner portions of theedges of the leg openings. Hence, the inner portions of the leg openingvedges are relatively inextensible. The wales of the materia]v in theportions of the inner trunks adjacent the outer edge portions of the legopenings extend transversely of such edge portions, so that said outeredge portions are adapted to be stretched considerably. 'Ihe legopenings in the inner garment especially are preferably made so thatwhen the garment is applied, the leg openings will be enlarged, theenlargement resulting in stretching mainly of the outer leg openingportions.- To reinforce the said outer leg opening portions, elasticstraps embodying rubber strands are associated with said outer legopening portions, said straps being enclosed within edge bindings 3l andsecured in place by stitching indicated at 31, which also serves tosecure the said edge binding in place.

'Ihe inner trunks portions are preferably so shaped that the leg openingedges of the innerl trunks approximately coincide and line up with thegroins of the wearer. When the leg openings are enlarged, the legelastica Il serve to provide a definite and material stretching actionon the crotch portion of the inner trunks between the leg openings,whereby the crotch portion is stretched both lengthwise and transverselyso as to provide a smooth, body-conforming tit.

The elastic waist portion of the inner garment is made of such size thatwhen the garment is worn, said waist portion will be stretched. Owing toits normal tendency to contract to its unstretched condition, the waistportion will adequately hold the bathing trunks in proper place on thewearer and also supply the desired abdominal supporting eifect, thelatter being somewhat enhanced by the centrally increased width of theiront portion of said waist band. The snug tting leg openings are alsoadvantageous `in that they effectively prevent exposure regardless ofthe posture of the wearer.

The inner trunks is designed to fit more or less snugly on the person,-whereas the outer trunks, being less taut, smoothes out body contoursand thereby produces the desired attractive appearance.

Changes in the described structure may be made without departing 'fromthe spirit of the invention, the scope of which should be determined byreference to the following claims, the

same being construed as broadly as possible consistent with the state ofthe art.

I claim:

1. A swimming garment comprising outer trunks, and relativelyindependent inner trunks of different material than said outer trunks.said outerl and inner trunks having their waist portions united, saidinner trunks having a wide waist portion 'of elastic materialconstituting anabdominal support and a lower portion of softer materialof less elasticity.

2. A swimming garment comprising outer trunks, and relativelyindependent inner trunks of different material than said outer trunks,said outer and inner trunks having their waist portions united, saidinner trunks having a wide waist portion of relatively strong, elasticmaterial constituting an abdominal support, and a lower portion ofsofter less elastic material, said lower portion having a bodysupporting crotch part of material which is elastic transversely andrelatively inelastic longitudinally of the garment, said crotch partbeing secured to and thereby supported from said waist band.

3. A swimming garment comprising outer trunks, and relativelyindependent inner trunks of different material than said outer trunks,said outer and inner trunks having their waist portions said innertrunks having a wide waist portion of relatively strong, elasticmaterial constituting an abdominal support, and a waist portion ofsofter less elastic material, said lower portion comprising a back partdepending from the back of said waist portion and a front part ofdifferent material than said cuter trunks, said outer and inner trunkshaving their waist portions united, said inner trunks having a widewaist portion of relatively strong, elastic material constituting anabdominal support, and a waist portion of softer less elastic material,said lower portion comprising a back part depending from the back ofsaid waist portion and a front part having a centrally disposed two-Plybody supporting'crotch section of material which is elastic transverselyof the garment but relatively inelastic longitudinally thereof, saidcrotch section being secured at its front or upper end to the front ofsaid waist portion and having its lower or rear end secured to the lowerend of said back part, the adjacent side edges of said front and backparts being united.

5. A swimming garment comprising outer trunks and relativelyindependent, inner trunks of different material than said outer trunks,said outer and inner trunks having their waist portions united, saidinner trunks being sufficiently smaller than said outer trunks to permitthe inner trunks to lie smoothly within and be wholly concealed by theouter trunks, said inner trunks comprising a wide waist portion ofrelatively strong elastic material constituting an abdominal support,and a lower portion of soft, knitted material of less elasticity thansaid waist portion, said lower portion comprising a back part dependingfrom the back of said waist portion, and a front part having a centrallydisposed crotch section, said crotch section being secured at its frontor upper end to the front of said waist 'portion and having its lower orrear end secured to the lower end of said back portion, the adjacentside edges of said front and back parts being united, the wales of thematerial in said crotch section and adjacent the inner portions of saidleg openings formed by said crotch section extending substantiallyparallel with the inner leg opening edges, whereby the latter arerelatively inextensible, the Wales of the material in said front partadjacent the outer leg opening portions extendingtransversely of saidouter leg opening portions, whereby 'the latter are resilientlyextensible, and elastic elements associated with said leg openings andstretchable with said outer leg opening edge portions so as to tend tostretch said inner leg opening edge portions and the intermediate crotchportion to maintain a smooth, body-conforming and supporting ilt in 20

